Science Question

Part A: Tracking Tropical SystemsThis assignment will have you documenting the direction and intensity of tropical storms
in the North Atlantic using data from the National Hurricane Center. You will track the
storms from Alex to Earl. You will map the location and record the storm’s intensity based
on the 11:00 AM and 11:00 PM updates. Below are the steps to map and record named
storms.
1) Visit the National Hurricane Center’s website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
2) Click on ‘Archives’. Scroll down to ‘Tropical Cyclone Advisory Archive’ and press the
‘Go’ button next to 2022. Here you will find all of the updates and discussions for
storms. You are responsible for the updates from 11 AM and 11 PM, for all named
storms. Please be aware, some storms cross into central time zone. For those storms,
you will be responsible for the 10 AM and 10 PM updates.
3) Select the storm. Click on either 11 AM or 11 PM. It will bring up the discussion.
4) Read through the discussion. Look for details such as shear, pressure, and
temperature.
5) Next, go to the Public Advisories and select either the 11 AM or PM update. This will
give you the Latitude and Longitude, wind speed, pressure and storm strength.
6) Use the Latitude and Longitude to map the storm on your North Atlantic Map.
7) When mapping the storm, make sure to use the correct symbol for the storm’s
strength (Depression, Storm, Hurricane, Post-Tropical Cyclone, or Remnants). The
symbols can be found on the home page at the bottom of the National Hurricane
Center tracking map. Also, please label the storms with at least the first letter of their
name and, if possible use different colors for the storms.
8) On the given table record the latitude, longitude, and max wind speed for each time
(11 AM and 11 PM) and date.
Part B: Calculating Distance of Tropical Systems
Once you have tracked the 11 am and 11 pm positions of first five named tropical systems,
you can calculate the distance that the storms have travelled. Below are the steps to
calculate the distance that these tropical systems have travelled. You must track the
distance for Danielle and Earl. Any additional storms you calculate the distance for are extra
credit. The materials to hand in for the hurricane tracking assignment are: tracks for the
five named storms on the map provided (all storms on one map), storm tracking table, and
distance calculations as in the example below.
1) Visit the National Hurricane Center’s latitude/longitude distance calculator website:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gccalc.shtml
2) Take your Hurricane tracking table. Fill in the distance calculator using the latitude
and longitude you recorded for the tracking portion of the homework. Enter the
latitude and longitude for the first location (either 11 am or pm) in the boxes for
latitude and longitude 1. Enter the next location in the boxes for latitude and
longitude 2. Click “Compute” and record the distance. Move the latitude and
longitude from position “2” to position “1” and fill in the boxes for “2” with the next
location. Repeat this process until you have distances for the entire storm track. Add
the distances together and record the total storm track length. Excel can be used for
this.
3) On the same distance calculator, enter the initial storm latitude and longitude in the
boxes for position “1”. Enter the final storm latitude and longitude in the boxes for
position “2”. Record this distance as the straight line storm track distance.
4) For your assignment, create a table in Excel that includes the storm name, total track
length and straight line track length or add the distances to the storm tracking table.
Conversely, you can add additional columns to your tracking table that show the
total track length and straight line track length.
Storm Name
Total Track Length
Straight Line Track Length
OCN 1010-02: Hurricane Tracking Information
NAME:________________________________________________________________________________
Storm Name Storm Type
Date
Time
Latitude
Longitude
Max Wind
Pressure
Atlantic Basin Hurricane Tracking Chart
National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida
105°W
100°W
95°W
90°W
85°W
80°W
75°W
70°W
65°W
60°W
55°W
50°W
45°W
40°W
35°W
30°W
25°W
20°W
15°W
50°N
10°W
50°N
NL
QC
45°N
ME
ON
NY
PA
OH
40°N
PEI
NB
45°N
NS
VT
NH
MA ! Boston
CT
RI
!
New York City
Philadelphia !
NJ
!
MD
WV
VA
40°N
Azores
! VA Beach
NC
35°N
SC
TX
30°N
LA
Houston !
MS
AL
GA
New Orleans
!
!
35°N
Charleston
Bermuda
! Jacksonville
30°N
FL
! Miami
25°N
25°N
The Bahamas
Mexico
20°N
Cayman Is.
Cuba
Haiti
Jamaica
Dom.
Republic
15°N
Anguilla Leeward Islands
St. Martin
Mauritania
Antigua
Guadeloupe
Dominica
Martinique
St. Lucia
Barbados
and Nevis
Honduras
El
Salvador
10°N
20°N
B.V.I.
Puerto U.S.V.I.
St. Kitts
Rico
Belize
Guatemala
Western
Sahara
Nicaragua
Costa
Rica
Grenada
Cape Verde Islands
Senegal
The Gambia
Windward Islands
Trinidad
10°N
Panama
Colombia
15°N
Venezuela
5°N
5°N
105°W
100°W
95°W
90°W
85°W
80°W
75°W
70°W
65°W
60°W
55°W
50°W
45°W
40°W
35°W
30°W
25°W
20°W
15°W
10°W